Her Hometown

Beijing

Time started

10:15

17:00

Time finished (most guests left)

10:45

21:00

Time completely over.

12:00

02:00

Music?

Yes, bad disco music we didn’t choose played too loudly

Yes, my friend played some love songs, then we had a music list for after the dinner

Dancing?

No

Yes, we danced, our parents danced with each other, all the guests danced then after we went to a bar where we all danced till the morning

Host

Yes, some woman we’d never met before

Yes, the duties divided between several of our closest friends

Clothes

Traditional Chinese

Traditional Chinese for ceremony, then changed into western for dinner and dancing

Attendance?

400 people, all Chinese. Never really spoke to or knew over 90% of them.

100 people, 50% foreign, 50% Chinese. I knew about 80% of them.

Food?

I didn’t eat with the main party, but the guests were eating when we walked in and were finished and gone before we sat down in a small room with close family only. Seemed they enjoyed it.

Brazilian BBQ, served hot and fresh with all you can eat salad and pasta bar. Everyone loved it.

Location

In a big open room in a restaurant with every side room also filled with guests. Quite garish, not very romantic and certainly not that clean by the end.

Outdoors in the trees, beautiful decoration and wonderfully romantic environment.

Hong Bao/Red Envelope

Collected by my mother in law. I think we made about 70,000RMB profit which paid for a deposit on an apartment. I really appreciate this tradition now and always give 888RMB when I go to friends weddings now!

Collected by a friend, covered about 60% of the costs of the wedding.

Vows/Speeches

/Ceremony

The host talked a lot, I tried to say my vows in Chinese but don’t think anyone but my wife understood me. My wife and her parents gave speeches. Kowtowed to her parents, poured them tea, exchanged water in bai jiu glasses.

Our father’s gave speeches. We had friends read love poems in English and Chinese. Instead of a religious official we had friends read declarations of love and marriage. Exchanged rings & vows in English this time. Pretty sure at least half the people understood me. Kowtowed to our parents and poured them tea.

Entertainment

Apart from the ceremony and food, none.

Lion dancers & traditional Chinese musicians. Wife in a sedan chair, me on a horse. I shot a bow and arrow to kill the sky wolf, ghosts on the land and demons in the earth. My friend playing guitar and singing in English (our Chinese friend was meant to sing but couldn’t make it because of a car accident).

Photos

I have no photos of people eating, the restaurant or anything off stage. I do have about 300 photos of me posing with family members after the ceremony. We did not do, nor ever plan to do, a wedding photo company wedding shoot.

Hundreds of photos of pretty much everything that were taken by family and friends. But sorry to say my wife doesn’t want her photo put on here so just a few small ones for you.

Overall Experience

A whirlwind and a plastic smile. Not at all for my wife and I but just to meet the needs of the in laws and local expectations. I was the first foreigner to marry in this village.

Dozens of people said it was one of the best weddings they had ever been to, both Chinese and Foriegners. Two weddings I went to after copied many aspects from it.